A Journey Back

Injustice and Restitution

Arnon Tamir

At the age of twenty-one, Arnon Tamir was deported to Poland from his home in Germany. A Journey Back describes Tamir's life in Germany, his deportation, and two return trips to Germany: in 1959 to clarify his reparations claim, and thirty years later, at the invitation of the city of Stuttgart. As Tamir interweaves memories from different times and places, he draws startling comparisons between his own experiences of oppression and exile, and his life as one of the new settlers in Palestine, themselves responsible for forcing the Arabs from their native land. Tamir's fluid narrative shows that there is no easy way to tell such a story, that the "journey back" is neither well defined nor easy.

About the Author

Arnon Tamir was born in Stuttgart in 1917 as Arnold Siegfried Fischmann. While preparing to emigrate to Palestine in 1938, he was deported to Poland. He later emigrated illegally to Palestine, becoming a member of the Kibbutz Hazorea, where he lives today.

Like Arnon Tamir, Ruth Hein left Germany at an early age. Her translations have appeared under the imprint of many publishers.